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Walt WhitmanA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
1. Whitman wrote this poem in 1860, one year before the American Civil War began. What examples do you see in the poem of people, groups, or events that may parallel the national turmoil in America when the poem was written? Create a T chart to organize your comparisons, with specific examples from the poem on one side, and explanations of national division they may have coincided with on the other. After creating your chart, journal a reflection on how many of the miseries observed in the poem are still present in America today. Which problems have been fully or partially resolved? Which problems persist in the present day?
2. Whitman was known for using catalogs in his poetry to list several people or ideas as he does in “I Sit and Look Out” with the “I + verb” structure. He uses a similar catalog structure in his poem “I Hear America Singing.” Compare and contrast this poem with “I Sit and Look Out.” As you look for similarities and differences, consider elements such as tone, structure, imagery, and theme. Create an essay with an introduction, conclusion, and two body paragraphs. In each body paragraph, discuss one point of similarity or one point of difference (for example, one paragraph on the similarity in structure, and one paragraph on the contrast in tones).
By Walt Whitman
A Glimpse
Walt Whitman
America
Walt Whitman
A Noiseless Patient Spider
Walt Whitman
Are you the new person drawn toward me?
Walt Whitman
As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days
Walt Whitman
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry
Walt Whitman
For You O Democracy
Walt Whitman
Hours Continuing Long
Walt Whitman
I Hear America Singing
Walt Whitman
I Sing the Body Electric
Walt Whitman
Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman
O Captain! My Captain!
Walt Whitman
Song of Myself
Walt Whitman
Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night
Walt Whitman
When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
Walt Whitman
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd
Walt Whitman